Donald Trump said Wednesday that Macy’s and NBC support illegal immigration, after the department store chain announced it was cutting ties with the 2016 GOP presidential candidate.

Mr. Trump, though, said in a statement that he is cutting ties with Macy’s because of the pressure the retailer recently came under to drop his line of merchandize over controversial remarks he made about immigrants.

NBC also recently parted ways with Mr. Trump after he said Mexico was sending rapists and drug-runners into the United States.

“I have also continually stated that I am not beholden to anyone and this includes NBC and Macy’s,” Mr. Trump said. “Clearly, NBC and Macy’s support illegal immigration, which is totally detrimental to the fabric of our once-great country.

“Both Macy’s and NBC totally caved at the first sight of potential difficulty with special interest groups who are nothing more than professional agitators, who are not looking out for the people they purport to represent, but only for themselves,” he said. “It is people like this that are actually running our country because our leaders are weak and ineffective.”

“We are disappointed and distressed by recent remarks about immigrants from Mexico,” Macy’s said in a statement, posted on CNN.com.

“We do not believe the disparaging characterizations portray an accurate picture of the many Mexicans, Mexican Americans and Latinos who have made so many valuable contributions to the success of our nation,” the statement said. “In light of statements made by Donald Trump, which are inconsistent with Macy’s values, we have decided to discontinue our business relationship with Mr. Trump and will phase-out the Trump menswear collection, which has been sold at Macy’s since 2004.”

Mr. Trump, meanwhile, countered Wednesday that he was never happy manufacturing his products in China because they have devalued their currency, making “it is very hard for other companies to compete and make such apparel in the United States.”